At two minutes after midnight on May 12th, the hyperloop became a little bit less of a pipe dream and little bit more of a reality. On that day, the Los Angeles-based startup Hyperloop One conducted the first full-system test of its technology in the desert north of Las Vegas. As several dozen of the company’s engineers and executives watched an array of monitors nervously, a metal sled accelerated to 70 mph (112 km/h), achieved levitation, and flew about 500 feet (152 meters) down the length of a 1,600-foot (487-meter) steel tube that had most of the air sucked out of it.
On the surface, it seemed like a nondescript event, but nonetheless the group broke out into ecstatic cheers. Hyperloop One co-founder and chief engineer Josh Giegel nervously fumbled with a bottle of champagne as he thanked his wife, while executive chairman Shervin Pishevar wiped away tears.
A little more than two months later, Giegel and Pishevar sat down with me in a private club in midtown Manhattan to talk about that day — and more importantly, what comes next. The elation of that moment had worn off, and both men were eager to get back to work on their dream of building the world’s first hyperloop system. The concept of nearly supersonic travel through hundreds of miles of vacuum-sealed tubes will always seem outlandish to most people. But then again, most people haven’t heard of Hyperloop One.
If you were in either San Francisco or LA, and wanted to arrive in the other city first thing in the morning, you'd have to catch quite an early flight. It could potentially leave you feeling groggy for the rest of the day. Well, Cabin offers a less costly and potentially more restful alternative. Its sleeping-cabin-equipped buses run between the two cities, leaving from one at 11pm and arriving at the other by 7am the next day.
The service began life as the SleepBus pilot project, which was initiated by entrepreneur Tom Currier. Following its success, Cabin was born.
Each of the two double-decker buses has two levels of pod-like cabins (for a total of 24), each one of which sleeps a single passenger. Besides sheets and a pillow, those cabins also feature privacy curtains, air conditioning, a window, a reading light, a power outlet and complimentary earplugs – although the walls are claimed to be soundproof.
There's additionally a lounge for people who wish to sit up and socialize, along with a bathroom equipped with a toilet and sink, for freshening up in the morning. And hey, there's also free Wi-Fi, water, coffee and tea, the latter three served by onboard attendants.
Tickets can be booked online, with one-way fares starting at US$115. Passengers are permitted two pieces of luggage.
The service launched on June 28th, with the first run scheduled to take place this Friday. Additional routes are planned for the future.
A Cabin release || July 15, 2017 |||
Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee has confirmed that United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will visit New Zealand from 23-25 July.
“New Zealand and the United Kingdom enjoy a close and enduring friendship,” Mr Brownlee says.
“We share extensive defence and security links as well as significant business and investment ties.
“We also have a common interest in a range of international peace and security matters.
“We welcome Secretary Johnson’s visit as an opportunity to strengthen our close relationship at a time when the United Kingdom is seeking to reshape its relationships around the world following its decision to leave the European Union,” Mr Brownlee says.
While in New Zealand, Secretary Johnson will meet with Prime Minister Bill English and senior ministers, the Leader of the Opposition and participate in a ceremony to dedicate the United Kingdom memorial at the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park.
| A release from the Beehive || July 14, 2017 |||
Another America’s Cup is in the history books and although the actual Cup itself might not have been as exciting as the Louis Vuitton World Series competition with its capsizing, collisions and man overboard, the entire event was pretty impressive. And now, with a new Defender at the helm, the all-consuming, burning question is asked: “What now?”
On the AC site it read: “When Emirates Team New Zealand sped through the finishing line on Monday afternoon in Bermuda to win the 35th America’s Cup, the team also crossed a starting line of sorts – this time for the 36th America’s Cup.” Going on to state: “The moment Peter Burling steered the New Zealand boat across the line to win the America’s Cup, the RNZYS accepted a challenge from Luna Rossa’s Circolo della Vela Sicillia (CVS) for the 36th America’s Cup.”
That is the first installment of the many answers to the “what now” question and it’s definitely a big one – the “who” if you will. Luna Rossa has been part of other America’s Cups and many are glad to see them back in the game. For those who don’t know, the way it works now is that these two teams will huddle together and map out all the logistics, including the rules and boats, for the next event.
“We need to put in place an exciting event that takes a lot of what has happened here, because there is a lot of good that’s happened here…”
Emirates TeamNZ Grant Dalton
Hmmm. Is Dalton hinting that the race will once again be run in high-speed foiling catamarans? Hard to say but it’s probably safe to assume it will be another cutting edge style event. To the dismay of hard-core traditionalists, the smart money isn’t on the 36th America’s Cup being held on J-class yachts. However, there is talk, maybe rumor is a better word, of the Cup possibly returning to monohulls. Some have speculated that perhaps a foiling mono that employs much of the speed and excitement the cats have generated would keep the interest peaked and the technology moving forward. Not too long ago Beneteau announced its plan to race a fleet of foiling monos for the famous Le Figaro singlehanded race in 2019 and the legendary Volvo Ocean Race announced it will use “foil assisted” monos in 2017-18 edition. It certainly seems in the realm of reality that organizers would seize the opportunity to both push the envelope further and placate monohull purists, which there are many.
Of the criticisms of the 35th AC, this notion of meat over mastery has to be on the top of the list. Boiled down there were only a couple of men on the boat actually sailing – the rest of the crew simply generated energy, on bicycles no less! For sailing purists nothing was as disappointing as seeing exercise bicycles installed on flying boats and calling it sailing. But this is the interesting element of the America’s Cup event – rules are written specifically for the contest and design teams get to the business of cracking codes and solving engineering puzzles.
It’s still a rumor but definitely an interesting notion. Beyond the boat design, the new AC Defenders are also expecting more teams to participate. In a recent interview on New Zealand radio Peter Burling & Blair Turk said they anticipated most or all of the 35th teams would be back with expectation of more teams. It would stand to reason that the Kiwi team would concentrate on making the next AC as affordable as possible since they struggled firsthand with what was called an “extremely strict budget.”
For now, while the Challenger and Defender spitball what will become, we sailing fans can blab to each other what we think is best (post your thoughts below!). It’s fun for a while but anticipation gets old. Soon we will see the whats and wheres, only to no doubt be answered with some resounding “whys??!!?”
| A Sailing Association of Ametrica release || July 14, 2017 |||
KiwiRail’s efforts to keep freight moving around New Zealand following the Kaikoura earthquake saw it take home an Australasian Rail Industry Award in Sydney last night.
KiwiRail won the Freight Rail Excellence category in recognition of its response to the November 2016 earthquake, which severely damaged New Zealand’s road and rail networks in the upper South Island.
“In the earthquake’s immediate aftermath up to 50% of rail freight moved to road and coastal shipping,” says KiwiRail Chief Executive Peter Reidy.
“The earthquake was an unprecedented event and its impact on the national supply chain has been significant. It challenged us to find ways to continue to support our customers and to provide strategic resilience options in the event of aftershocks.
“KiwiRail took a leadership role in finding solutions to problems the earthquake caused.
“We quickly invested in a freight hub in the upper South Island to support domestic freight forwarders and secured coastal capacity with major shipping lines.
“We also worked with customers as well as local and central government to protect tourism flows around the country.
“These strategies are all designed to retain and protect long-term customer freight volumes until we are able to re-open the rail network.
“We’re looking forward to once again being able to offer our customers the option of moving their freight on the line.”
“The rebuild of the Main North Line has been the biggest rail project in the South Island since WWII, and we’d like to thank our customers for their support and patience over the last eight months.
“This award recognises the dedication and hard work of our team, led by Group General Manager Sales and Commercial Alan Piper.”
More than 80 nominations were received across 12 categories in this year’s Australasian Rail Industry Awards, which recognise outstanding achievements by individuals and organisations across Australia and New Zealand.
| A Kiwi Rail release || July 14, 2017 |||
The Reserve Bank has started a public consultation about what type of financial instruments should qualify as bank capital.
Capital regulations address not only the minimum amount of capital that banks must hold, but also the type of financial instruments that qualify as capital. The consultation that starts today is about the nature of financial instruments that are suitable, rather than the amount of capital.
Important considerations for regulations about bank capital include: the Reserve Bank’s regulatory approach; the resolution regime in the event of a bank facing difficulties; international standards issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision; the Reserve Bank’s experience with the current capital regime; and the fact that dominant participants in the New Zealand banking market are subsidiaries of overseas banks. The consultation paper discusses these issues and outlines five options for reforming existing regulations.
The Bank’s proposed reforms to capital regulations aim to reduce the complexity of the regulatory regime; provide greater certainty about the quality of capital that banks hold; and reduce the scope for regulatory arbitrage.
The consultation closes at 5pm on Friday 8 September. More information:· Consultation paper: What should qualify as bank capital? Issues and Options· Review of the capital adequacy framework for registered banks
|A RBNZ article || July 14, 2017 |||
New regulations gazetted today will help revolutionise the way New Zealand’s commercial fisheries are managed and monitored, says Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy.
The regulations require the use of geospatial position reporting (GPR), e-logbooks, and cameras across the commercial fishing industry and are being rolled out from 1 October this year.
“Digital monitoring is going to revolutionise the way we make fisheries management decisions, and help ensure that we are protecting the sustainability of New Zealand’s fisheries. It will give us arguably the most transparent and accountable commercial fishery anywhere in the world,” says Mr Guy.
“This new technology will provide more accurate and up-to-date information allowing us to make quicker and better-informed management decisions.”
Digital monitoring replaces the paper-based catch and effort reporting system for commercial fishing, which was too inefficient. Fishers will be required to provide more detailed information in their reporting and all data will be integrated by MPI so that what is reported can be compared to the GPR data and camera footage.
“The reality of the industry has too often meant that what happens at sea has been out of sight. We expect this new system will act as a significant deterrent to illegal activity, as the information it captures can and will be used by MPI for prosecutions when the rules are broken.”
The first two stages of digital monitoring – GPR and catch reporting via new e-logbooks – will be brought in from 1 October this year, with cameras phased in to each fishery from 1 October 2018.
Trawl vessels 28 metres and over will be using the GPR and e-logbooks from 1 October, representing over 70 percent of the commercial catch volume. All other operators will have a 6 month period to install the new systems.
“This is the biggest change to the commercial fishing industry since the introduction of the Quota Management System, and I have instructed MPI to support the industry to achieve full implementation and compliance over a six-month period.
“By 1 April 2018 all fishing permit holders will be required to be fully compliant with the GPR and e-logbook systems.”
Digital monitoring is part of the Future of our Fisheries programme, which is strengthening the fisheries management system and making it fit-for-the future. The programme also includes ongoing policy work to help ensure sustainable fisheries.
This year’s Budget included a boost of $30.5 million in funding over the next four years to support these improvements.
More information on this new system and the Future of our Fisheries programme is available at www.mpi.govt.nz/futureofourfisheries.
| A Beehive release || July 13, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242